1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing method and a computer readable medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image processing system and an image processing method for correcting an image of an object inside a physical body and to a computer readable medium storing therein a program for use with the image processing system.
2. Related Art
An endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-165365 processes an image signal representing a predetermined range by using a point spread function of an objective optical system in order to clarify a blur of the image. Such a process is expected to be capable of clarifying a blur of the image caused by an insufficient focal depth of the objective optical system while increasing the amount of the light incident on the image capturing section.
A known measuring apparatus includes: a CCD camera that obtains binary information of a target physical body, to which artificial sunshine is irradiated in a darkroom, and displays the target physical body using dots on a CRT display; and a pair of laser emitters that are displayed on the target physical body as reference pointers as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-250538. The measuring apparatus calculates the area and peripheral length of the target physical body displayed on the CRT display with reference to the ratio between the distance between the reference pointers P1 and P2 displayed by using dots on the CRT display and the distance between the reference pointers on the actual target physical body, and then performs a comparison operation on the calculated area and peripheral length by using the ratio in order to know the position, shape and size of the target physical body. Furthermore, a known distance measuring apparatus includes: a CCD camera that is constituted by a fixed focus lens and a CCD of a photoelectric converter and that has a horizontal field angle of α and a vertical field angle of β; and laser light sources that are provided on the respective sides of the CCD camera with respect to an optical axis X-X with a predetermined interval LA/2 therebetween and emit a set of radial vertical parallel leaser light rays that have a radiation angle of θ, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-230807.
For example, when an object such as a blood vessel inside a living organism is observed with the use of light from the object, only a blurry image is produced for the object. Specifically speaking, the light from the object is scattered while traveling through the living organism and the image of the object is vaguely outlined. Here, when making a diagnosis or performing an operation with the help of en endoscope, a medical doctor desires to accurately know the position of an object such as a blood vessel. Therefore, it is demanded to correct the blurry outline of the image of the object and thus provide the medical doctors with a clear image. The techniques disclosed in the above-mentioned three publications, however, cannot correct blurry images of objects inside physical bodies.